Nothing 2 Bring

I don't think I need a caption for this.

It's that cute.

And, yes, that is a BMW. I wouldn't dare let my children ride on anything BUT.

teeheeheehee

AND

THIS

is the face of SUCCESS!

Me, myself, and I stayed up through the wee hours of the night toiling to finish a quilt for my sister and her family before they leave.

Ok,ok. So I only did a few stitches. I would have done more had it not been for an incident with a opossum. But aneeeeway.

And it was my other sister, Melissa, who actually did the majority of the work.

And, ok, by majority I still mean that we paid an EXCEPTIONAL quilter friend of mine (who you can find here) to do the actual quilting.

But let me just say...it was a small miracle.

And it is beautiful.

Great job, Mel & Bethany.

All of the squares represents memories with my sister and her children. sniff,sniff.

We made it so that as they move overseas with a huge chunk of our hearts, they will always have something to remind them of those who treasure them most. Wether it be snuggled up for reading time, movie night, cold evenings, or to wipe the tears of homesickness. Our hearts are with them.

Praise God for his beauty and desire. If it weren't for this, I would be tempted to want Heaven now. And just so you know, that would definitely involve my sister and I on a compound.

But, alas, Heaven aint here yet.

Not even close.

And the closest think to the ecstasy of Heaven is to know Jesus personally now.

So. we'll stick with that.

I love you, sissers.

These are all of the Meekin babies...so far. I mean come on.

ED-I-BLE

So much blessing on one curb.

This was after we presented them with the quilt.

Other than getting ready for good- byes, we've been trying to enjoy the beautiful weather after our "hard" winter. It really was hard for us North Carolinians, but growing up in Alaska automatically disqualifies you from calling weather bad unless you had to plug in your car the night before.

We even pulled out the luxury pool. Wal-mart. $9. Every year a new one.

Even our little trach-baby enjoyed some safe water time.

And when we weren't enjoying the weather or preparing for good byes, we were celebrating birthdays.

Our sweet niece, Felicity, will spend most of her upcoming birthdays in another country, so we got together with our closest friends and family and chowed on the most amazing Ethiopian food EVER. Seriously, I'm moving there tomorrow.

Or I could just get the recipes from my sister.

But I'd rather move there...no lie.

And Shep got more loving on from his auntie Mel

And the best big brother in THE WORLD. I'm going to have him write a manual for big brotherhood for my boys to read through. He's. THE. BEST.

Right here he's teaching Shep how to smile a sincere, heart warming smile, when your little sister's scream nasty things at you because they didn't get their way. Not like that ever happened to him growing up...

And here Shep is informing me that before I know it he'll be riding a bike. And about 5 minutes later he'll be going to college.

He's just sayin.

But First....

is Monday, May 3rd.

We would love you to be praying with us around 9 AM EST as he goes back to the OR for his bronchoscopy.

We are praying simply and boldly.

"Lord, please be glorified in your might by not only allowing Shep to decanulate (get his trach out) but also by removing the obstacle of his granulation tissue."

Let me be clear. He has granulation tissue and there is lot's of it and if he is going to get his trach out, they are going to have to surgically remove it. I'm asking God to remove it so that they get in there and it's just...gone.

So I'm not gonna lie, were not asking for something realistic.

Just so you know.

We're asking for something God sized.

Cause what's the fun in being able to explain it away with rationale?

And we're also praying like this, AT THE SAME TIME

"Lord, if you want to work things out THAT WAY, there is NO question, you CAN do it. But if they call us back to the post- op room and hand us our baby and he still has his trach and they say, 'sorry, maybe next time,' it is because you have a BETTER way of doing this thing. And in that case, please don't answer my prayer my way.

To the glory of YOUR name and YOUR beauty. Amen."

So this isn't a pray big, so God can prove himself kind of a thing. God IS the KING OF ALL, Shepherd's maker, author of all life, and chooser of wills. But he LOVES when we pray, He loves for us to share the deepest longings of our heart with him. So I have.

There it is, Lord.

You love when I share with you what you already now and we can do this together.

Thank You.

For doing this with me, Father.